Rich Franklin says he senses "respect" between rivals Adriano Moraes and Demetrious Johnson

ONE Championship Vice President Rich Franklin sensed mutual respect between the two flyweight rivals, Adriano Moraes and Demetrious Johnson, when they faced-off at the ONE and Prime Video press conference in LA.

That evening, the MMA Hall of Famer introduced the first of five US primetime events, ONE on Video Prime 1: Moraes vs Johnson II, airing this month on Friday, August 26. News of the flyweight world title rematch has sparked another worldwide whirlwind in the martial arts circuit.

Speaking to The Schmo about the intensity behind the face-off between Moraes and Johnson on-stage, Rich Franklin said:

“I think I sensed probably respect the most, out of the two of them. It was actually funny when they were on stage because they were asking Adriano what he would do next and he said, ‘I don’t know, maybe the trilogy with DJ,’ which I would be willing to watch, regardless of the outcome of the second match coming up here.”

Check out Franklin's interview with The Schmo below:

The first world title bout between the two saw Demetrious Johnson, one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, collide with ONE Championship’s reigning flyweight king Adriano Moraes at ONE on TNT 1 last year.

The matchup elevated the brand to new heights in 2021 with thousands of new fans tuning in to watch the event for the first time on US television.

Even more so when Moraes ultimately defeated the American legend in dramatic fashion in the second round of a five-round world title bout. Since then, 'Mighty Mouse' has vowed to avenge his loss but displays no animosity towards his rival. On the contrary, they have deep respect for one another and can’t wait to put on another electric performance on a grander stage.

Watch their face-off below:

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Rich Franklin on what North American fans can expect with launch of ONE on Prime Video 1

In an interview with Sherdog MMA, Rich Franklin told American and Canadian fans what they can expect to see with the launch of ONE on Prime Video 1 on Friday, August 26.

He said:

“First of all I can talk about the entertainment value of ONE. If you’ve never been to an event, I said this out on stage, it’s like a rock concert is married to a sporting event and we have this staging system with this computerized LED background where we create these custom walkouts for all the athletes that’s choreographed to the music that they walk out to. It includes oftentimes pyro laser light shows, smoke and it’s something to truly see in the arena.”

Watch some footage of the best walkouts below: